User talk:Brianmc

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Brian is taking a short wikibreak and will be back on Wikinews as soon as he can deal with Real Life issues


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Archives

Archive 01 — January 9, 2006 | Archive 02 — April 6, 2006 | Archive 03 — June 4, 2006 | Archive 04 — September 29, 2006 | Archive 05 — December 9, 2006 | Archive 06 — March 24, 2007 | Archive 07 — May 30, 2007 | Archive 08 — November 4, 2007 | Archive 09 — March 25, 2008

Contents

[edit] Username Usurpation

Hi, it's Nick from Commons, English Wikipedia and OTRS. Can you possibly rename User:Nick away from that username in order that I may "claim" that username with my global account. Many thanks in advance. Heligoland - (talk) 00:57, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid not. I just tried and got the error "Cannot rename user Nick locally as this username has been migrated to the unified login system." This may be one where you actually have to speak to the devs. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:09, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
Accounts can't be renamed locally after they've been merged into the gloabl system. There's a bug already filed about it, and a page on Meta dealing with it, if I remember right. {{SUBST:Ss|thunder}} 06:05, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
I kind of have the same question about the usernamne Natox, which is my name at the global acount. The problem is that username has been claimed here (not by me). Purhapse you could check if I have the same problem as Heligoland/Nick. PS. If you could answer at my User talk at the Swedish Wikipedia, it will be easier for me to know that you have answered. DS./Natox nox - (talk) 18:38, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, could you perhaps rename this account to User:Natox now? Then there won't be a problem I think. /Natox nox - (talk) 19:00, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
It won't let me do that, says the account name is reserved. --Brian McNeil / talk 19:02, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Okey, I'll look in to it. Thanks anyway. /Natox nox - (talk) 19:10, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
It works! Thanks, and if you would'nt mind, you could delete or redirect Natox nox now, since I only used it to get hold of this name. /Natox - (talk) 19:14, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Press Passes

I'm trying to get a big interview coming up, and I may need a press pass for it. Is Messed still doing press passes, or is someone else in charge of that for now? {{SUBST:Ss|thunder}} 06:05, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I believe Messed still does them. --Brian McNeil / talk 07:23, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikibreak

My grandmother died last night, sometime in the coming week I will have to fly to Scotland for the funeral. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:45, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

You have my condolences, Brian - take as long as you need. --Skenmy(t•c•w) 09:46, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
You have my condolences --Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) 10:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
It did not come as a particularly great shock, I'm 39 so you can probably make an educated guess at how old my grandmother was. She'd recently been admitted to a nursing home after my mother had a hellish time trying to get that sorted out. She'd pretty much gone anyway, dementia had set in and she had issues recognising people. My grandfather is apparently being particularly stoic about this, there's been a few close calls for him recently with the frailties age brings. My mother's experience in dealing with both her parents has prompted her to tell me to stay in Belgium or move even further away before she gets to that stage, and thus force the state to fulfil their obligations. I really appreciate her saying that while she still has command of her faculties, but I know when it comes down to it I will feel guilty if I don't give up what I'm doing and look after her. My sister can't deal with that as she's Downs Syndrome, I've always felt guilty that I don't consider myself strong and disciplined enough to take over my sister's care from my mother when mum becomes too frail. It has coloured my entire life knowing that my sister will never be able to get married and lead a "normal" life.
I am really not looking forward to the next one, which is likely to be my grandfather. Without my mother having given up her job with Edinburgh University to make sure he ate properly, he'd already be gone. He's had a few close calls in the past few years, and cancer saw him get about six inches removed from his lower intestine in 2005. When he does go I'll likely inherit his whiskey collection, many of the bottles only have one or two glasses taken out of them. I spent about ten to fifteen years buying him single malts as Christmas and birthday presents. I kinda tell myself that was a cop-out and an easy option for presents, but he's always taken pride in being able to open the cabinet and ask his Masonic lodge colleagues to "pick your poison, my grandson bought me it".
I'm not likely to stick much to the Wikibreak. Keeping involved with the project is likely to prove somewhat therapeutic, take my mind off this, and help me avoid ending up back in a depressed state. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:32, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I am sorry to hear :( That really sucks. Take your time and come back soon. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 16:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

very sorry to hear this, best wishes --MarkTalk to me 20:28, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Brian, I am saddened to hear this news. I know how it can be as I have already seen the passing of three of my grandparents, as well as that of my own mother. My thoughts are with you. --SVTCobra 23:44, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

very sorry to hear that, Brian. my condolences to you and your family. –Doldrums(talk) 06:20, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User:Churchofscientologyint

I'm not particularly convinced that the content of this page, consisting of basic contact details, could be described as spam. Actually, I think it is very useful that everyone has a clear idea who this user is. I am considering restoring it on this basis. Adambro - (talk) 11:43, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

I'd question the authenticity of the claim to be CoS. Per CheckUser results the edits were made through an open proxy. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:38, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't think this is an official Church of Scientology account. Last year when I spoke to their director of media relations for an interview with David Miscavige, they were pretty hostile to Wiki. I had a twenty minute conversation. --David Shankbone - (talk) 17:16, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
I can only add that Markie (talk · contribs) said on IRC that he verified the account via e-mail. Perhaps he can be consulted on this. --SVTCobra 21:33, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
It certainly seems odd that they are using some sort of open proxy. Cirt - (talk) 21:42, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
Not really. As I recall they have thousands of IPs...so this IMHO is not a surprise. But nonetheless, Markie e-mailed the said address provided ion the user page and got the confirmation in a reply. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 21:45, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
Yes, that may be so, but if you take a look at w:Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/COFS and w:Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/COFS/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Jpgordon - the Church of Scientology seems to usually use IPs that track back to their own domains - and one would think that if they are openly saying that this is a Church of Scientology-account (which would be outright not allowed and blocked on Wikipedia according to their policy on usernames and role accounts) - then the checkuser in this case on Wikinews wouldn't track back to an open proxy. Cirt - (talk) 21:51, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
re the email and confirmation. i emailed the address specified on the user page, which incidentally also appears on a scientology.org page, and received an email back (admitadly from a gmail account, but thought that as they had got the email to reply to it wasnt really a biggy) confirming that the account was theres, and could i unblock it. i will forward to other admins on request. --MarkTalk to me 22:05, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Checkuser? Why?

Why was checkuser used in this case? Checkuser is a last resort. The only issue here was to confirm this CoS account was genuine which was done as far as I'm aware. Adambro - (talk) 22:04, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, in light of w:Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/COFS/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Jpgordon, it's possible that there could have been a connection to Misou (talk · contribs), who had previously been confirmed as a sockpuppet at w:Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/COFS (though this Misou (talk · contribs) on Wikinews has claimed to be a different individual than the Misou on Wikipedia, but that's another story. Cirt - (talk) 22:11, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
I had to know.
FYI CheckUser is not "a last resort". If you've any serious problems with me taking this action bring it up with the ArbCom. --Brian McNeil / talk 22:20, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
From WN:CU, the first point is "Due to the effort involved, difficulty of interpretation of results and privacy issues raised, checkuser is a last resort for difficult cases. Use other methods first." Adambro - (talk) 05:27, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
I have raised this issue on the checkuser-l mailing list. I will report what I can here, and have asked people to give explicit permission to quote either here or on WN:AAA. To date I only have two replies with the first specifying that both the checkuser on suspicion that this was a sock of JustaHulk, and the deletion of the userpage were justified actions. For the second I have permission to quote...
...
User talk:Brianmc
 I've recommended to the en:wp arbcom that they regard all "official CoS" accounts, and all accounts that reasonably appear to be CoS official action (or are on a CoS-owned range) as a single user. Because they effectively are.

My recommendation to keep the peace is to allow one unblocked at all times, and watch its edits like a hawk.
...
User talk:Brianmc
In addition I have requested a cross-wiki check by an uninvolved steward on User:Misou to verify if the accounts on Wikinews and Wikipedia are unrelated. I never found the claim to be a different Misou who also happened to be interested in CoS material credible.
If you wish to know who the quote is from, then let me know off-wiki. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:18, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism warning

Please do not delete my user page. Thank you. Churchofscientologyint - (talk) 17:13, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

There is a simple answer to that, don't set up an account to simply post your - or someone else's - contact details. --Brian McNeil / talk 22:13, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No Personal atacks

Hi Brian,

I understand you are currently going through a difficult time but I would like to remind you that it is not appropriate to suggest that a user could be a murderer as you did on this page. I am completely aware of what fair game is but you have no reason to imply the JustaHulk (talk · contribs) is engaging in this type of activity. I am not a Scientologist but I thing it is unacceptable to suggest someone is linked to murder because of their beliefs.

Thanks for taking the time to read this message,

--Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) 17:24, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

You are reading something into my comments that is not there, or in any way implied or intended to be taken from my comment. --Brian McNeil / talk 22:12, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
I usderstand that yiu may not have intended to imply that but JustaHulk seemed to think that that was implied. --Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) (Note I have no link with the organization anonymous) 16:38, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
In which case you are out of order reminding a very well respected contributor to not make personal attacks. --Skenmy(t•c•w) 16:40, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
OK, I was probably going too far with my original comment but at that time I was angry at the reaction of some contributers towards JustaHulk and others. Brian is an excellent contributer who has probably helped this project more than vitually any other user. It was just at that time I considered his comments to be clearly implying that JustaHulk was linked with murder. That reaction was a result of my anger at the time. I do, however, think that Brian had made a mistake in including the information about murders in the comment. --Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) (Note I have no link with the organization anonymous) 16:55, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] April Fools

I wrote an April fool's prank for Wikinews. In response to your comments at the water cooler, however, what I decided to do is leave it in the sandbox. 69.140.152.55 22:30, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Help

Can you help me? --Humberto 2 - (talk) 00:48, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Craig got this one. --Brian McNeil / talk 10:50, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] usurp request

I would like to request usurpation of User:Martijn Hoekstra. Someone has been vandalising, and using my en.wiki username across different projects. I'd like to get them all into my unified login. confirmation that I'm me. 213.132.174.10 09:28, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I have renamed the user out the way, grab the name while you can - and wait until you've got all the vandal accounts renamed before doing the consolidation. --Brian McNeil / talk 10:49, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FYI

I opened this Who can vote on deletion requests discussion at the Water cooler. --SVTCobra 18:51, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Checkuser

I just wanted to notify you about 4 users who seem to be sock puppets, based on there user name and contributions. I therefore suggest you check user them. The users are

Thanks for reading this message,

Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) (Note I have no link with the organization anonymous) 17:13, 8 April 2008 (UTC)


Don't worry, I'll wait till these users start vandalizing. Anonymous101 (talk · contribs) (Note I have no link with the organization anonymous) 17:38, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] User:Jack Merridew returns

Hi Brian,

FYI, that was not me; that was en:WP's Grawp vandal. I expect this is well-known, but want to say so explicitly. I've only recently created a number of wiki accounts, in part to keep vandals from grabbing the user name; see m:User:Jack Merridew/Matrix. Cheers, User:Jack Merridew a.k.a. David 09:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Signpost and 2000th FA.

That actually works out really well; I was going to work on something along those lines myself. If you want it in the Signpost, you'll need to dual-license the questions and answers under CC and the GFDL, and I'll be happy to use it (making some minor edits to the introduction to reflect the more Wikipedia-savvy readers of the Signpost, but otherwise keeping it fairly similar). If you can get it by late Monday UTC, I can publish it next week. Let me know if you have any other questions or need any other help. Ral315 (talk) 15:09, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

But there's a problem with referring to this as "the" 2000th FA; it was one of five 2000th FAs. 68.199.231.122 18:48, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't have a problem with the way the Wikinews interview piece is highlighting this one article, but FYI: [1] Cirt - (talk) 19:01, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
Professor Beasley-Murray has started filling in answers and one of the students has registered and got in touch with me about what they need to do now. Ideally I'd like to see this up as one of Sunday's features. --Brian McNeil / talk 06:32, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
Sounds like a good timeframe. Cirt - (talk) 06:47, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

FYI w:User:SandyGeorgia posted a comment at w:Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions which she wanted me to notify you of - I'll let you monitor that thread on your own from now on. I also commented in it, sort of in response to the other comments above as a clarification. Cirt - (talk) 09:12, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

I've answered it... without swearing. --Brian McNeil / talk 10:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Usurp request

Hi, I'm hoping you can move the username User:Nick out of the way so I can claim the account here with my SUL global account. Just give me a shout on IRC (I'm NotASpy) if you need confirmation this is me. Cheers. Nick 23:56, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the usurp, much appreciated. Nick - (talk) 23:14, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reply

Duly noted, from now on I will wait for you to show up in IRC before attempting to contact you. I am sorry. I will also apologize to Skenmy. Cirt - (talk) 08:10, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article rename

Wikinews interviews: The team behind the 2,000th featured Wikipedia article is a bit long, and dup use of word "the". Mind if I rename it to "Wikinews interviews: Wikipedia's 2000th 'featured article'" ? Cirt - (talk) 07:27, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind, changed it to Wikinews interviews team behind the 2,000th featured Wikipedia article. Cirt - (talk) 07:41, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
Ok, I think I have signed the liscence permission properly. Please let me know if you are in need of anything else! Thanks again,--Mfreud - (talk) 17:45, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] This diff

I noticed you reverted this edit and gave the user a warning for this diff. I think that is unreasonable as the user was just making a correction to the article. He was a new user who was not aware that we don't edit old articles. I think {{hello}} would have been better thatn {{test}}. I recommend you change the message to a friendly welcome. A warning may put a user of editing. --A101 - (talk) 20:18, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for changing the message. --A101 - (talk) 20:24, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks for the welcome!

Hello Brianmc! Thanks for the welcome! I just wanted to let you know that this IP is a shared address by Richmond Community Schools...And I, personally am Letter 7 (Wikipedian). Thanks for the welcome!

165.139.156.41 15:19, 18 April 2008 (UTC) (Letter_7)

[edit] Symode09

Is there a reason why you are giving Symode09 lots of one minute blocks rather than one longer block. --A101 - (talk) 16:49, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

You could call it perversity or personal amusement, it's just because of the somewhat offensive copyrighted image he uploaded and he deserves a long "block history" for it. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:51, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure if policy allows them to be blocked at all for that image but I won't stop you as they haven;t complained. --A101 - (talk) 16:54, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm done now and he has six entries in his block log. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:56, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
Good --A101 - (talk) 16:59, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm really not sure why either of you consider this blocking to be appropriate. It doesn't reflect bad on Symode09 in having a long block log made up of one minute blocks, it reflects bad on Brianmc. Adambro - (talk) 18:43, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
Adambro, get a sense of humour implant. God knows you need one! --Brian McNeil / talk 21:24, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Series of earthquakes strike Reno, Nevada area

Mind renaming the article? Do you think it's ready for publication? I've never created a Wikinews article before, so I'm a little new. Jade Knight - (talk) 09:01, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

  • Done
As you'll see I did the rename after giving you the welcome. It was more important to get you the links to things like the style guide so you can judge for yourself where it might not be to the project standards. Will give it a quick look over and see if there's any obvious edits. I'd guess the main thing is filling in appropriate {{source}} templates. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:05, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
Well, the Wells quake was in February, and it was a 6.0. There's a Wikinews article on it which I included in this article. Jade Knight - (talk) 09:38, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
Really cool map about Nevada History. Says its source is the USGS, but I'm not 100% sure that the image comes from them: [2] This is somewhat interesting, however: [3].
Perhaps better: [4], [5]. Jade Knight - (talk) 09:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikimedia Radio (Wikispecies)

You're right about having too many latins! Wikispecies welcomes everyone, but strongly recommends that they have some biology background, particularly familiar with binomial nomenclature. Nevertheless, we're trying to dispel the aura around Wikispecies that it's for scientists only. Whether it is feasible to actually have a session specifically for Wikispecies, that even I'm not too sure, because it will be a very boring subject unless you're biologist. OhanaUnitedTalk page 18:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Usurpation request

Hi. It's RedWolf here from the English Wikipedia. I request that User:RedWolf be usurped here so that I can claim it under my global account. The existing account has just two edits, both from October 2006. Thanks. RedWolf@en.wikipedia.org 03:52, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Featured Article Candidate

I have nominated an article you worked on as primary contributor, Wikinews interviews team behind the 2,000th featured Wikipedia article, as a Featured Article Candidate. Cirt - (talk) 06:25, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Editors' Blog, Computex, and something related to my recent articles

Should I do some notices on Computex-related information and articles to Editors' Blog? There's only me participating the Computex in this community as I know. By the way, if there are English news releases related to my participations, should I mail to Wikinews Mailist for Copy-edit Check-up and Backup? I hope some recommendations can be helpful for me if no any English news releases from my officials. Brock contact... 13:25, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

A short piece on the Editors' blog might be a good idea. Not sure what you mean about press releases. --Brian McNeil / talk 13:29, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] would just like to say thanks for the cheerful welcome.

ty Brian --Nohawkson - (talk) 09:10, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rfa

Just an FYI, its been more than seven days for my Rfa, it's 3 support, 2 oppose, with a 4th support that I think came in too late. WN:A#Ryan524.--Ryan524 - (talk) 19:40, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Can I clairify something? How does 3 support, and 2 oppose fail?--Ryan524 - (talk) 22:28, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
I couldn't find a template for "no consensus". You've come back to a community that doesn't know you. --Brian McNeil / talk 22:36, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
I fail to see how you could say "no consensus" when the majority of the community (taht voted) voted in support since their is no policy or even gideline that specifies a consensus must be a specific supermajority therefore a simple majority should safice IMO, but it's your call.--Ryan524 - (talk) 22:49, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
I will write here because I have had so many edit conflicts on the Water Cooler, and my repeatedly cut and pasted comment may now be out of context.
60% seems like a pretty solid majority, but if you're talking about a turnout of 5 who chose to vote it is kinda slim. So, in all seriousness, stop taking it so negatively and get busy editing. Spend a week or two proving to the community that you can make a difference and afford the time commitment. I would have added the sysop bit had it been triple the voters with the same percentages. --Brian McNeil / talk 23:31, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
You make a good point about a low number of votes, I have proposed a policy that dictates what a consensus is but takes low umber of votes into account.--Ryan524 - (talk) 16:24, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

While I cannot aggree with how you handled my Rfa, and honestly I feel kinda cheated, I respect that the community has chosen to give you the power to make a decision and I am going to try not to hold it against you since you were doing what you thought was best. IMO I can see that a low turnout can make you think twice before passing it but I think the fact that I was formerly an admin and left in good standing should have been concidered, and even if you still didn't want to pass it IMO it would have been better to extend voting to get a consensus one way or the other instead of closing it as failed.--Ryan524 - (talk) 22:07, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Accusations of abuse of OTRS and CU access by Adambro

Notes here for self-reference.

Obvious CoS account checked...

Mormon (c) violation article...

[edit] Dispute Resolutions

Aren;t dispte resolutions normally on subpages. Anonymous101 :) 18:54, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

{{sosueme}} someone will fix it. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] IRC

Could you please get on and PM me (DanielB)? Daniel (talk) 09:03, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikinews:Dispute resolution/Brianmc and Adambro,

While not explicitly in the still open Wikinews:Dispute resolution/Brianmc and Adambro, it turned up in your RFR (is RFR used?). In any event, I reviewed your block log (of other users, not the times you were blocked). Unfortunatly, I had to conclude that the series of one-minute blocks on User:Symode09 did not correspond with any edits that the user made on Wikinews. The response that Symode09 is the same as brown_cat on WN:IRC fails to carry any weight as it doesn't explain why a series of one-minute blocks would do any good.

I am trying to look beyond my own personal opinion that User:Symode09 should have been permanently banned after perpetrating the greatest copy-vio we have had since I joined (namely Candlelight vigil for victims of Virginia Tech shootings and the efforts made by this user to explain that somehow it was not a copyvio).

Nevertheless, one-minute-blocks, don't really do anything to impede an editor, and if Adambro's allegation is true that these blocks included a statement that it was to make this editor look bad, I don't see any actual harm, since this user could not ever look worse. Nonetheless, it is bad form and ought not be repeated, regardless of who it is. I am not a regular on IRC, and I have no idea what recourses there are for trolls, but on-wiki retaliation is probably not one of them. --SVTCobra 02:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

I can't recall the precise edit on WN that Symode09 made which prompted this, but the one minute blocks were to have him get a block warning on the wiki but not actually be long-term blocked. I was waiting in IRC until he noticed then ceased. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:52, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
I checked both his contributions as well as deleted contributions. There was nothing seemed to correspond for the time in question, so unless they were removed by oversight. --SVTCobra 15:59, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
maybe if you paid attention to what people tell you. this should help you svt.--MarkTalk to me 16:13, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Should we link to copyvios like that imageAnonymous101 :) 17:52, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
It isn't a problem because only admins can see it. Adambro (talk) 19:13, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
OK, I see it now. Sorry. --SVTCobra 11:16, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Leak of copyright infringement notice from OTRS

This user has nailed a stake in the ground and will not yield. You are suggested to contact a lawyer and take it up in court. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:52, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikinews Bulletin

Here is the latest Wikinews bulletin. Enjoy!


Issue X - May 17, 2008
Administrators and Accredidations
  • Since our last edition, Cirt (talk · contribs) has been given the mop and bucket, and Ryan524 (talk · contribs) (now retired) asked for adminship.
  • No one has became an accredited reporter on Wikinews. There are no requests you can currently vote or comment on, although there are lots of De-adminship Requests.
Featured Articles and News In Pictures
  • No articles were promoted recently. Several candidates are waiting for your vote, including two exclusive interviews.
  • Several images were featured on the main pages, which you can check out in the News In Picture archive.
  • Several images have been featured on the Main Page .The latest of which is available below. -
Massive explosion in North Toronto, Ontario

Credit: Michael Gil
Multiple large explosions were reported at Sunshine Propane Industrial Gases, a propane facility in northern Toronto near Keele Street and Wilson Street near the Highway 401, at approximately between 3:25 and 3:50 am EST on August 10, 2008, at Murray Rd. & Spalding Rd. The above image shows the explosion.
 » Full story » Archive
Original reporting

Since our last edition, many articles have claimed original reporting. Here are the most recent:

Several others wrote stories based on television sources. The Wikinews Reports blog activity was mostly related to some of these stories. You can ask any of the blog authors if you want to help out on the blog.
Editor's note

In the last few months activity on Wikinews has continued to decrease to an incredibly low level. There are hardly any new contributers joining and one of our best users, DragonFire1024 (talk · contribs) has gone on Wikibreak. However, some excellent articles are continuing to be written. Anonymous101 :) 12:09, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
Site activity
IRC activity
  • Some of the IRC topics include Wikimedia Radio. ... (add more here if you know more...)
Wikimedia News
About the Wikinews Bulletin

The Wikinews Bulletin is a free internal newsletter for members of the Wikinews community. The newsletter is "staffed" by several editors, who produce the (more or less) fortnightly publication. Don't hesitate to join our team, or leave us a tip. The publication has produced nine issues.

Anonymous101 :) 12:17, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikimedia Radio

Hi Brian,

I'm starting to work to getting WCR spun back up. I've commented a bit on the WM Radio proposal, and I'd be glad to help out. Are you guys having any kind of IRC meets or formal discussions, or is everything on wiki? v:User:Historybuff 19:20, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 2007/08 European football season: Spots finalized for European stage

Can you help on working on the table? This is a massive table and a lot of people need to work on it. Kingjeff (talk) 01:27, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] CSV upload

Brian, Last year you were interested in a CSV upload feature in AWB. It is ready now and was wondering if you would like to beta-test it. If interested, check out Ganeshbot/CSVLoader. Regards, Ganeshk (talk) 02:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Re: I are not Anon

Very true. You did indeed. In my defence I ... uh ... yeah. Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 00:10, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Interwiki

Hi, could you also add interwiki to articles 2008 Juno Award nominees announced and 1960's guru icon Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies. More in its talk. Thanks. --Sevela.p (talk) 21:22, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Usurpation request 2

Hi, I'm MER-C from Wikipedia and I'd like to usurp the impostor account here for SUL purposes. (Sorry for the silly username, the string "MER-C" is username blacklisted). The instructions say to spam a few talk pages, so here we go. Thanks. TempAccount (talk) 07:22, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

I have renamed the MER-C impostor account out the way and renamed "TempAccount" to MER-C. Hope this helps. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:05, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Accreditation

Hi Brian! I've ask to DragonFire how can I obtain the accreditation on en.wikinews, even if I'm most active on the Italian version of Wikinews, and he suggested me to ask you how can I do. Can you help me? ;) --Stef Mec (talk) 18:02, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok, thanks for advice. I've added the basic form of my home page, which you can find similar both in Italian and Spanish wikinews. I'm also interesting to contribute here, and I'm beginning to search somebody useful to do ;) --Stef Mec (talk) 06:16, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] {{haveyoursay}}

OK, thanks for the clarification. b2xiao (talk) 03:02, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Your question for the Board candidates

To be honest, I don't think that I understand it. Could you provide an example of when this tension has played out? Sarcasticidealist (talk) 00:27, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I would have thought the current vote on the World Cup photo was a good enough example. --Brian McNeil / talk 06:27, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
Just a quick comment about your question, I think it is important to note that there are numerous examples where images have been removed from archived articles following consensus to delete the image emerging at WN:DR. The suggestion that our archiving policy prevents us from changing images in archived articles only emerges when people want to attempt to bolster their opposition to a deletion nomination. Adambro (talk) 06:38, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
There are examples, yes. The more egregarious ones are not what is at issue here, just a general principle and one of the points where Wikinews is unique. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:39, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] JAnDbot

Please, first see Wikinews:Bot and then block: [6]. JAn Dudík (talk) 19:57, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

This was not highlighted in the WN:RC header. I noted there was a bot request, but at least it isn't flooding RC now. I'm sure we'll get it sorted and working. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:33, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Talk:MDS International Found in Comtempt of Court

Since it looks like the related article got deleted, could you consider deleting the unfree documents which you uploaded in relation to the article, Image:Mds award.pdf, Image:Mds attorney's fees claim.pdf and Image:Mds complaint.pdf, as they seem to no longer serve a useful purpose. Cheers. Adambro (talk) 23:10, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Category:Requests for Unblock

I just reviewed and resolved most of the requests in this category. However, two of them are proxy-blocks. I do not have the tools to evaluate these. Since you blocked them, could you either refuse the requests or unblock, please. Secondly, I have noticed that these requests seem to flounder (some were really old). Should we add a DPL to WN:AAA so that we can address these in a timely manner? Cheers, --SVTCobra 23:28, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi Brian. I noticed that Cspurrier (talk · contribs) blocked 78.31.67.68 as an open proxy today. So I decided to give the scanner a try. However, it came up empty ... no open ports. Also, that IP has no edits and no deleted edits. Was the block even appropriate? Or is there something I am missing? Cheers, --SVTCobra 00:23, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Try http://78.31.67.68 ;-) --Brian McNeil / talk 08:16, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
P.S. If you check RC really closely you could probably work out who was checkusered to find this. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:18, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Also, use the advanced scan and change to a "TCP connect()" scan in the drop-down next to the "do it now button". --Brian McNeil / talk 12:29, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WN:RC

Can you please use the {{softredirect}} template instead?

The wikitext should read

{{softredirect|Special:Recentchanges}}

Thanks, b2xiao talk 15:01, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Interesting Audio from Stanford

I was surfing around on iTunes, and I found this lecture from Stanford at the Caros Kelly McClathy Memorial Symposium. Take a look at it sometime. Thunderhead 18:31, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] interview edit

I conducted the interview and noticed I had copied what the candidate said wrongly from the e-mail. Its on the collaboration page.--William Saturn (talk) 19:13, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] English

If you are referring to "supersede", I am quite sure that this is the preferred spelling in both British and US English, although "supercede" is considered a valid alternate spelling and also found in print. A search on BBC's website found 41 instances of "supersede" and 12 instances of "supercede". --SVTCobra 14:41, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

A statistic for you: US English speakers outnumber all others combined all others combined (strictly people who speak English as a first language). --SVTCobra 15:14, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
err where does it say that?? i didnt look too carefully so may have missed it though --MarkTalk to me 15:29, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
If you look at the "first language" column, I think the numbers speak for themselves. --SVTCobra 15:33, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
hmm maybes but if we look at the google results for the two different words, that gives the obvious answer. (dont start me on what lang americans speak :-p) --MarkTalk to me 16:49, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


I prefer the U in honour, apparently American English speakers don't. :P --Brian McNeil / talk 18:02, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

And just for laughs, I got this in my email the other day...

...
User talk:Brianmc
 Message from the Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body Armour like a bunch of nancies).

Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!
...
User talk:Brianmc

SCNR. --Brian McNeil / talk 18:09, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

HAHAHA that pretty much sums it up brian :-p --MarkTalk to me 21:22, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Elián González joins Communist youth group, AP says

Bloomberg wrote their article independently. Both the Wikinews article and the Bloomberg article reflects name reflects that the story originated from AP. Kingjeff (talk) 16:55, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

The Bloomberg report contains no original research or independent verification of AP's claim. This is "what AP says", and nobody else says it. --Brian McNeil / talk 16:58, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WIKI NEWS : HOLY GRAIL IS IN ISTANBUL

I am a Turkish correspondent who talk to Mr. Ferhat Kanarya. I published his solution at my newspaper Aksam. This news is not a hoax. Regards, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.184.60.148 (talk) 21:06, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It's crackpottery. He's claiming to have cracked a code that cannot be cracked due to insufficient cyphertext. If I make up a Ceasar cypher and encrypt "To be or not to be" then you only get the encrypted text there is insufficient to resolve the code. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:12, 17 June 2008 (UTC)